Forest Hills Petition To Make Austin Street Car-Free Nears Goal

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — A petition to make Austin Street in Forest Hills more pedestrian friendly by eliminating car congestion is approaching its signature goal after it launched in September.

Forest Hills resident Pedro Rodriguez, a volunteer with "Neighbors for a Safer Austin Street," started a petition requesting the city’s Department of Transportation increase pedestrian space and safety on Austin Street.

For the last six months, Rodriguez has approached residents and businesses in the neighborhood for their support.

Residents are asking DOT to widen sidewalks on Austin Street, allow businesses to have more outdoor seating, and study the possibility of making parts of the street completely car-free.

As of Tuesday, the petition had garnered 450 signatures and Rodriguez set a goal of 500 sympathizers. Once the petition marks its goal, the form will be sent to City Council Member for District 29, Lynn Schulman.

“It’s crowded and there’s a lot of traffic,” Schulman told Patch. “It’s something that we definitely need to take a look at.”

An online petition also makes the request to Queens Deputy Borough Commissioner, Albert Silvestri, Queens Borough Commissioner, Nicole Garcia, and members of Queens Community Board 6.

Rodriguez and other community members submitted a resolution to the Queens Community Board 6 Transportation committee requesting that they support the petition. The board is slated to talk about the proposal on Thursday during the committee’s meeting.

“This affects everyone in the community,” Rodriguez told Patch. “Every single time you go to Austin Street, there’s constant honking and constant congestion.”

The congestion also “causes difficulties in making deliveries to businesses, leading to double parking and blocking bus stops and crosswalks,” the online petition reads.

Some Forest Hills residents haven’t been too keen on the idea of eliminating roadways in the neighborhood. Nearly half of Forest Hills residents own cars, according to a 2018 study by the city’s Economic Development Corporation.

Bicycle lane separators in Forest Hills streets have been a subject of debate as cars sometimes mount on top of them when turning a corner. Studies have shown that purpose-built bicycle-specific facilities reduce crashes and injuries among cyclists.

The petition says that the car congestion “leads to impatient drivers who end up making dangerous maneuvers as they try to escape from the gridlock.”